BEIJING has wiped out its major desertified areas after massive afforestation campaigns added tens of millions of trees, local authorities said.

According to the announcement by the Beijing Gardening and Greening Bureau, the five major sandstorm-plagued areas in the capital have been replaced with forests.

The declaration ahead of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought yesterday said the five desertified areas — the towns of Kangzhuang, Nankou and rivers of Chaobai, Yongding and Dasha — once sprawled 165,000 hectares in Beijing’s northwestern, northeastern and western suburbs.

The metropolis has launched a series of afforestation programs since the 1980s. In 2012, Beijing launched its largest-ever afforestation drive in its plain areas, planting at least 54 million trees on 70,000 hectares.

Another regional afforestation project, launched in 2000 to build a barrier around the capital against the incursion of deserts and sandstorms, has also added 553,300 hectares of forests in Beijing alone.

Thanks to such afforestation efforts, Beijing has seen a steady decline of sand and dust weather in spring, from 26 days in the 1950s to three days after 2010, according to the city’s meteorological bureau. (Xinhua)